Downtown Greenway Selects Design Firm for Next Phase of Work

Project Announces $1.5 Million Grant from Phillips Foundation

GREENSBORO, N.C. (May 21, 2015) — The Downtown Greenway, a collaborative economic development project between the City of Greensboro and Action Greensboro, has selected design firm Kimley-Horn and Associates, Inc., to lead the next stage of the project. The Downtown Greenway also announced a $1.5 million grant from Phillips Foundation pledged in 2013 that includes naming rights for the section of the greenway being planned by Kimley-Horn.

The Downtown Greenway is a planned four-mile, urban, paved trail that will encircle downtown Greensboro. Upon completion, full features will include landscaping and lighting, benches, bicycle racks, drinking fountains, trash and recycling receptacles, and public art commissions.

A premier design consulting firm with offices across the country, Kimley-Horn specializes in community planning, landscape architecture, parks and recreation facilities, transportation planning, and urban design and redevelopment. Among many award-winning projects, the company has designed the reopening of the Fayetteville Street Mall in downtown Raleigh, North Carolina, Miami River Greenway in Miami, Florida, and the Whittier Greenway Trail in Whittier, California.

“Our Downtown Greenway will be the only trail of its kind in North Carolina and one of just a few in the country,” said Elizabeth Phillips, executive director of Phillips Foundation. “We’ve made this investment to catalyze the completion of the project, which will spur further economic development in Greensboro’s center city, as well as provide the broader community with a unique green space that promotes health and wellness, alternative transportation, art interface and an outdoor attraction to residents and visitors alike.”

“Phillips Foundation’s grant is critical to the development of this historic project,” said Dabney Sanders, project manager of the Downtown Greenway. “Both Phillips Foundation and KimleyHorn share our vision to invest in Greensboro through an innovative landmark that will transform our community by increasing walkability and thereby boosting property values, retail traffic, tourism, and attracting businesses and residents to downtown Greensboro. We are thankful for their partnerships.”

In 2005, local business leader Kermit Phillips created the Kermit G. Phillips II Charitable Trust to provide funding to non-profit causes as elected by the Phillips family. The trust’s endowment recently gained the majority of its funding and now operates as the Phillips Foundation. The current board is regionally focused on the Greensboro community with five target areas: housing and homelessness; economic development; arts and culture; child and family services; and education and learning enrichment. For more information, visit PhillipsFoundationNC.org.

Phillips Foundation currently does not accept unsolicited grant applications.

About Downtown Greenway

The Downtown Greenway, a collaborative project of the City of Greensboro and Action Greensboro, is a planned 4 mile walking and biking trail that will encourage economic development, increase the tax base for the city, and will improve quality of life for its citizens. This urban loop around the center city of downtown Greensboro will enhance the urban landscape with a green space that will promote fitness, connectedness and well-being for our residents and visitors in an aesthetically pleasing environment. The loop itself provides a unique opportunity for Greensboro to have the only one of its kind in the state and one of the few in the country. With its emphasis on public art, the Greenway will tell stories and engage users of the trail in a unique and authentic way. In addition, with the connections to the extensive existing and planned trails systems in the city and the county, this loop will connect residents from all parts of the community and beyond.

Phillips Foundation is a private family foundation and catalytic capital platform that leverages its assets to maximize social, environmental and financial value.